June 19, 2011 The remodel saga continues

After a couple of weeks of having my patience tried to the breaking point by lenders, I’ve opted to stretch my resources for a couple of months, use my equity line and, if necessary, the credit cards, and just do this remodel first and refi the house afterwards. At that point, the house will be worth quite a bit more, especially after upgrading the kitchen and the two existing bathrooms and adding a third. (we women just love our kitchens and bathrooms, don’t we?) I’ve also decided to pass on using the fellow I spoke to over the last couple of weeks as he had gone past beginning to annoy me into full blown annoyance. I was starting to smell major bait and switch and I won’t tolerate that! So I’ve given my contractor the go ahead. I’ll be meeting one of them at Home Depot or Lowe’s to pick out cabinets and countertops and all of the other odds and ends I am currently oblivious to. I’ll probably have one of Home Depot’s kitchen designers in to help me lay out the actual kitchen, and we need to talk to the architect to have plans drawn up for the actual build ups and knock downs. Interestingly, I was having a dream last night about knocking the wall out between the two offices for the library. I hope I’ll be able to do that, but it may have to wait for a later date to actually make that part happen. If so, I may hold off on laying floor in those two rooms until the rest is complete, although that might cause a lower appraisal. Ahhh, the joys of homeownership and all of the things that go with it. No wonder I’ve lived in my little hovel as it was for so long! But I know I’m going to love having the extra space, the bigger kitchen, and most of all, a bathroom all to myself! And Heather will love having the bigger room and more closet space, and a bathroom all to HERself, I’m certain!

She’s been a bit cranky for the last couple of days, and trying to attribute it to me, but I have a feeling it has something to do with seeing her friends having babies and starting lives of their own. I wish she could just see that her dream is just as important for her to push towards, and that she has made a lot of progress in the last two years, even though it seems like it’s still so far away. She’ll be done with Moorpark soon, the light at the end of the tunnel is visible. I have a feeling that, because of her experiences at Moorpark, her days at CSUN will go far more quickly and with a lot less pain. If nothing else, the classes are sure to be a lot more interesting than all of the basic stuff she’s been struggling through. And she will get to see a lot more of her options as well. She’s taken longer to come into her own than some of her friends, and I know it frustrates her. But once she did, the result was amazing! She’s talented on so many levels now. She can repair and build things around the house, is a walking encyclopedia on the biology of things, many of which I’d rather NOT know, makes beautiful jewelry, cooks and bakes the most amazing things (and that chemistry is coming in handy as she experiments with gluten free recipes for me), has strong computer skills which are helping in any job she undertakes, and on top of it all, is quite a talented photographer! Maybe I just need to stand her in front of the mirror and have her remind herself that she’s amazing! 🙂

On the not-so-fun side, I’m still dealing with the after effects of the Levaquin the doctor gave me for the infection on my leg. (if I wasn’t allergic to everything else, I could have avoided this. But my body knows that antibiotics really are an evil, albeit necessary once in awhile.) At any rate, I’m trusting that I stopped taking them in time, and my leg seems to be confirming this as the pain in the tendon is no longer all the way up to my hip, having localized itself to just below my right knee, and has completely stopped in my left leg. Of course, I haven’t danced in over a week, but am trying to get up and move around as much as I can.

The baby shower for Diane, Heather’s best friend in the world, was marvelous! The food was yummy and the company, though a small group, was fun and comfortable. One friend brought her baby boy who was just the cutest little guy in the world, and who was amazingly good for being in the midst of a bunch of yakking, laughing women for several hours! Diane’s mom is very sweet, and I enjoyed meeting her. And Amanda’s mom (the baby boy’s grandma) was an absolute hoot! I look forward to seeing her again! She’s very down to earth, comfortable in her own skin, and extremely intelligent. She comes out with one-liners that equal or better my own! I haven’t laughed so much in ages! The party ran from about 2 or 2:30 until nearly 8, so, needless to say, I didn’t end up going dancing. But I couldn’t just leave in the middle of all of the fun! And her reaction as she watched Amanda pouring what she thought was wine into our crystal wine glasses was priceless! (Heather had unearthed my champagne flutes and crystal in the process of cleaning up after the rat fiasco, and thought it would be fun to use them for sparkling cider. OK, she also gave me hell for packing up my crystal and china and never using them too!) It was actually very festive to drink cider from crystal! I think I’ll make a point of doing it more often. I guess I’m going to have to make room in the china hutch after the remodel is done and start using the “good” dishes and glasses! Thank goodness for kids who remind us of what’s really important.

And on this Father’s Day, I remember my dad and grandpa fondly and hope they come back soon so they can keep another family laughing and sharp witted like they did this one.

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